John Ocken was born in Sittinghausen, Germany on April 5, 1849. On October
29, 1875 he was united in marriage to Elizabeth Schaefer, and to this union
eight children were born, one of whom died in infancy. The other children were:
Mary (Mrs. Henry Puttman), John A., Teresa (Mrs. Herman Woerdehoff), Elizabeth (Mrs.
George Wess), Joe, Anna (Mrs. John Wolterman), and Henry.

In 1882 John Ocken and his family crossed the ocean and settled on a farm in
Carroll County. Later they moved to Breda and he worked for many years on the
section for the railroad, being division boss for the last fifteen years. In his
later years he was town marshal for a few years and also operated a cream buying
station. He died on July 27, 1915.

Joseph Olerich was born Jan 7, 1859 at Galena, Illinois. He came to Carroll
County as a young man and settled on a farm east of Breda were he resided a
number of years. Later he was identified with hardware, implement and furniture
businesses in Breda for many years. He erected a number of the large business
buildings in Breda, and was a director of the bank. In 1911, J. W. Zurmahr and
H. J. Bruning joined him as partners. Mr. Olerich retired from active business
about 1926.

He and Matilda Zurmahr were married Jan 14, 1893. They were the parents of
six children: Alva, (Wand), Herman J., Victor, Frank, Carl and Arthur. Mr. Olerich
died Dec 30, 1936.